Saturday, August 11, 2012

The FAIR (Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research) featured my show "Ornaments of Eden" at their most recent conference, which was perfectly thrilling, on it's own. But right here, is the highlight of my adult life:

That is John Gee.

Interpreting the heiroglyphs.

On my painting.

They have failed to make a word for how COOL that is! When I discovered that my darling friend Roger Nichols had caught that on camera, I practically squished him to death- the squish of gratitude.

The conference was fascinating.

One great discoveryI’d like to share isValerie Hudson’s article “The Two Trees” A fascinating perspective on the Adam and Eve story. (Her conclusions seem to coincide completely with what I’m getting from facsimile #2. trusting that I remotely understand Hugh Nibly)

I also realized that my painting, "O Morning Star, Make a Path for Me," is a personal apologia, (Greek "written in justification of belief"), almost autobiographical. It is my McConkie-esque declaration, that the best defense of faith comes from it's most controversial attributes: The King Follet Sermon, Joseph's ability to translate, Women's abeyance from the priesthood, Revelation, The Temple. These "cruel" "biggotted" "insensitive" (and my personal favorite,) "unscientific" standards are also what save us in our darkest hour. (Speaking of....)

Josh Johansen spoke about the Labyrinth of Homosexual desire, (His talk should be required reading for America, PLEASE go read it!) But in a lot of ways his talk was typological for apologetic argument; He demonstrated how unscientific, agendized, and damaging the homosexual movement was. He concluded by saying that people with SGA need the church; and it's structure and requirements were helpful, supportive, and loving. (We are not allowed to hear that anywhere else. hmm.)

I was disappointed that they invited a feminist to come whine about priesthood, but I was quite content that my Eve stood behind her left shoulder undermining her work; silently celebrating the priesthood- holding the beacon for true Mormon feminine power through her entire argument. (Thanks to my darling friends Maya and Roger for taking pictures for me.)